Holiday Sales

One of the best couponing secrets it to watch grocery store sales during holiday and special event weekends.  Usually items for that holiday hit a deep discounted price.  One example, is Superbowl weekend, you will find hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and sodas on sale.  This next week it's time to start looking at St. Patrick's day meals, so you are likely to find corned beef and cabbage on sale {I saw cabbage for .39/lb in the Smiths ad this coming week}.

Well, the Mahoney in me has come out in full swing this year - hence all the green on this site ;-).  And I have done some digging for a few recipes on what to do with corned beef and cabbage.  Here one that we might have to test out this year.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

• 3 lb Corned Beef
• 1 onion
• a few lbs of potatoes
• carrots
• head of cabbage
• peppercorn
• bay leaves
• 1 bottle Guiness 

Check out this video for a great tutorial on how to put this dish together.  The best part is that it uses the crock pot which is my new favorite kitchen tool! 

You might also want to try Boxty with those potatoes that are likely to be on sale too.  It is an Irish pancake of sorts made with some cooked and some shredded raw potato.  It really is pretty yummy.  I made some for a church activity where my daughter had to share a dish from her heritage.  This is what I brought and it was a big hit - even when I served it plain.

Best-ever Boxty Recipe

• 2 medium potatoes, boiled in salted water and mashed
• 2 medium potatoes, grated
• 1 cup flour, self-rising or all-purpose
• 1 cup buttermilk, approximate (can substitute regular milk)
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Butter OR canola oil OR a mixture of the two, for frying
• Chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)

Finely grate the raw potatoes using a box grater or food processor grating disk. Do not just chop them up in the food processor: the resulting mush will not make good boxty.
Drain grated potatoes in a mesh sieve or colander over a bowl to catch the liquid; they may turn a little brown, but you will not be able to tell in the finished dish. After 15 minutes or so, you will see a white sediment– potato starch– in the bottom of the bowl and a clear liquid on the top. Drain off the liquid (you don't need to be fussy about it) and add the potato starch to the potatoes, flour and enough buttermilk to make a batter that is just spoon-able and a little bit looser than standard mashed potatoes. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. If you use self raising flour, the boxty will be fluffier, but all purpose flour works perfectly well.
Heat a couple of tablespoons butter and/or oil over medium to medium-high heat. Drop boxty batter by spoonfuls into the hot oil and cook until golden brown, flipping once– about 2 minutes per side for small potato cakes, although you can make your boxty whatever size you please.
Serve hot.

There is an old Irish poem 

Boxty on the griddle, boxty in the pan, if you can't make boxty, you'll never get a man.

Have fun & don't forget to 'K-i-S-s' your fellow Irishmen. 

Peppery Pork Roast

I thought I would post one of my favorite recipes since pork loin is on sale at Smiths this week. Enjoy!

Pepper Pork Roast
2 med. onions sliced
2 T canola oil
4 lbs pork loin (I've used both pork loin and pork roast)
salt and pepper
3 cloves
2 sticks of cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 (12 oz) can Dr. Pepper
1.5 cups dried apricot halves
1.5 cups pitted prunes

• Slice onions and place in slow cooker
• Heat oil in skillet over med-high heat
• Season pork with salt and pepper, then brown all sides in skillet
• Place browned pork on top of onions in slow cooker
• Add cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaf to cooker
• Pour Dr. Pepper over pork and top with dried fruit
• Cover and cook 3-4 hours on high or 8-9 hours on low
• Ensure pork is 160 degrees
• Remove pork from cooker after it's done
• Use a slotted spoon to remove onion, fruit and spices
• Discard whole spices
• Skim any grease from sauce
• Slice pork (it falls apart!) and serve with onions, fruit and sauce!

I also like to serve the pork over brown rice or mashed potatoes

Yummy!

I thought I would post one of my FAVORITE recipes (and did I mention crock pot?). It's so easy and yummy. And it's case lot time at Smith's so most of these ingredients you can find for really inexpensive AND chicken is on sale too! Here you go and enjoy!!

Crockpot Chicken Chili
1-1.5 lbs. chicken tenders (cut into 3/4 inch pieces)
2 cans (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 C salsa
2 cans (15 oz) beans—black, kidney, chili (choose your favorites! mix and match)
1 envelope of Taco seasoning
1 C frozen corn
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed or chopped (I use pre-chopped garlic)

Throw everything in a crockpot and set for 6-8 hours! Dinner is served! I like to top it with sour cream and some crumbled crackers.

Side note: you can throw other stuff in there (olives, jalepenos, green bell peppers). Make it your own! I also like to put in whole chicken tenderloins or breasts and when it's done cooking, I take the chicken out, shred it and put it back in. Enjoy!

Monkey Bread

Did you notice that Smith's still has a bunch of 5 star deals even though the big coupon even ended on Tuesday.  Well, one of those items is the Pillsbury biscuits.  I scooped a bunch up last week (with coupons), but now what to do with all those biscuits??  The answer is a crowd pleaser - especially for the kiddos - MONKEY BREAD!  

You will need:

2 packages of Pillsbury biscuits

1/2 cup of sugar

2 tsp of cinnamon

3/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

Cut the biscuits into quarters, and toss them in a ziploc bag with sugar and cinnamon.  Shake the bag to coat each piece of dough (my 2 year old helped with this part and she did a great job).  Place all the dough pieces in a greased bundt pan (or other deep dish baker).  Melt butter and add brown sugar.  Pour brown sugar mixture over all the dough and make sure to coat well.  

*Another option is to put chopped nuts at the bottom of the pan before the dough pieces and/or sprinkle nuts throughout*.

Now, my original recipe said to bake at 350 for 25 minutes, but with my Pampered Chef bundt pan it did NOT turn out well the first time I did this.  So this morning I did 325 for about 45 minutes and made did the knife check trick to make sure it was all cooked through.  It turned out GREAT!!  Plus the kids love to just get their little monkey fingers in their and just grab their bites.

Spicy Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

Ingredients:
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1-1/4 lb boneless beef top sirloin steak, trimmed
3 cups broccoli florets
1 medium onion
1 medium red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp finely chopped, peeled fresh gingerroot
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup beef broth

Directions:
1. In large bowl, combine soy sauce, cornstarch and 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the oil. Cut steak into 1/4-inch-thick (6-mm) strips. Add steak to marinade; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate 15 minutes. Meanwhile, using (5-in./13-cm.) Santoku Knife, cut broccoli into small florets, onion into thin wedges and bell pepper into thin strips. Set vegetables aside.

2. Add 1 tsp (5 mL) of the oil to Stir-Fry Skillet; heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Remove steak from marinade; discard marinade. Add half each of the steak, garlic, ginger and pepper flakes to Skillet. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes or until outside surface of steak is no longer pink. Remove from Skillet; keep warm. Repeat with 1 tsp (5 mL) of the oil and remaining steak, garlic, ginger and pepper flakes. Remove from Skillet.

3. Heat remaining oil in same Skillet until shimmering. Add vegetables; stir-fry 3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Return steak to Skillet; add broth. Bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring gently.

Yield: 4 servings
Nutrients per serving: Calories 390, Total Fat 23 g, Saturated Fat 7 g, Cholesterol 60 mg, Carbohydrate 11 g, Protein 33 g, Sodium 810 mg, Fiber 3 g

Smith's has Petite Cut Boneless Beef Sirloin Steaks on sale this week. This recipe comes with The Pampered Chef Executive Cookware Stir-Fry Skillet. AND, cookware is an August special for ALL hosts. All you need to do is collect at least $150 in orders and you can get 60% off one piece of cookware. Collect $550 or more and you can get TWO pieces OR sets for 60% off. Can't beat that deal!!! Contact Amber through her website to book your kitchen or catalog show.

Grilled Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

(from The Pampered Chef 29 Minutes to Dinner Cookbook)
Taco seasoning gives a flavor boost with minimum effort. As the tilapia cooks, you can prepare the flavorful salsa.

Pineapple Salsa
1/2 medium pineapple
1/4 small red onion
1 serrano pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/8 tsp salt
1 lime
Tilapia
1 packet taco seasoning (1.25 oz)
3 Tbsp Garlic Oil or olive oil
4 boneless skinless tilapia fillets (about 4 oz each)

1. Heat Grill Pan over medium heat 5 minutes. As pan heats, using Santuko Knife, peel pineapple half; cut lengthwise into two pieces and remove core. (You can also use the pineapple wedger to get your pineapple halves and remove the core at the same time.) Slice each pineapple piece lengthwise into three strips. Arrange strips in a single layer over Grill Pan; cook 2-3 minutes on each side or until grill marks appear. Set aside on Cutting Board.

2. While pineapple cooks, chop onion. Cut serano pepper lengthwise in half; remove and discard seeds. Chop serrano pepper and cilantri. Combine onion, serrano peppers, cilantro and salt in Small Batter Bowl. Zest lime using Microplane Adjustable Grater to measure 1 tsp zest. Juice lime to measure 1 Tbsp juice. Add zest and juice to batter bowl; mix well.

3. Whisk taco seasoning and oil in Stainless Mixing Bowl. Add tilapia to coat. Place two tilapia fillets onto Grill Pan. Cook 2 minutes or until grill marks appear. Turn tilapia over using Jumbo Slotted Turner; cook 2 minutes or until tilapia flakes easily with a fork. Remove tilapia from pan. Wipe out pan and repeat with remaining fillets.

4. As tilapia cooks, chop pineapple and add to onion mixture in batter bowl; mix well. To serve, top tilapia with pineapple salsa.

Yield 4 serving

Nutrients per serving: Calories 240, Total Fat 12g, Saturated Fat 1.5g, Cholesterol 55mg, Carbohydrate 13g, Protein 23g, Sodium 780 mg, Fiber 2g

The tilapia is on sale at Albertsons thru Tuesday. Check out Amber's website to get these great Pampered Chef tools.

The incredible 30-minute chicken

This week Vons has Foster Farms whole chicken on sale for $0.77/lb. Perfect time to try the Pampered Chef Incredible 30-minute chicken!!

Our Deep Covered Baker and a flavorful seasoning mixture make this chicken EASY and irresistible. This quick microwave method is a real time-saver, perfect for a weeknight meal or when the recipe calls for cooked chicken.

Chicken
1 whole chicken (3½-4 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Seasoning Mixture
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1. Lightly spray Deep Covered Baker with oil using Kitchen Spritzer. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken cavity. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Trim excess fat using Kitchen Shears, if necessary. Tie ends of legs together with cotton string. Lift wing tips up toward neck; then tuck under back of chicken. Place chicken on Cutting Board; brush with oil using Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush.

2. For seasoning mixture, combine ingredients in Prep Bowl; mix well. Completely coat outside of chicken with seasoning mixture. Place chicken, breast side up, in baker.


3. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 25-30 minutes or until Pocket Thermometer registers 165 F in thickest part of breast and juices run clear. Remove from microwave. Cover with lid and let rest 10 minutes (temperature will rise to 170 F).

Yield: 4-6 servings
Nutrients per serving: Calories 490, Total Fat 29 g, Saturated Fat 8 g, Cholesterol 165 mg, Carbohydrate 2 g, Protein 52 g, Sodium 450 mg, Fiber 0 g

Variations:
1. Use our Pampered Pantry(SM) rubs and seasoning mixes to give alternate flavors to your chicken.

2. All-in-One Chicken Dinner - Prepare chicken as directed above and place in baker. Combine 1 cup each celery and carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces, and 3 cups red or russet potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces, in Classic Batter Bowl. Toss with additional seasoning, if desired. Arrange vegetables around chicken. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 35-40 minutes or until Pocket Thermometer registers 165 F in thickest part of breast and juices run clear. Remove from microwave. Cover with lid and let rest 10 minutes (temperature will rise to 170 F).

3. Lightened-up 30-Minute Chicken - Carefully remove skin from chicken; season as recipe directs. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 20-25 minutes or until Pocket Thermometer registers 165 F in thickest part of breast and juices run clear. Remove from microwave. Cover with lid and let rest 10 minutes (temperature will rise to 170 F).

Nutrients per serving: Calories 330, Total Fat 15 g, Saturated Fat 3.5 g, Cholesterol 135 mg, Carbohydrate 2 g, Protein 44 g, Sodium 420 mg, Fiber 0 g

You can order the Deep Covered Baker or any of the other Pampered Chef tools listed in the recipe on my website.

Click here to go to the Grocery Smarts list.

Beef Back Ribs

I have been promising recipes for ya, so here's the first one. Last week beef back ribs were on sale so of course I scooped some up in a sale frenzy and when I got home I realized that I had NO idea how to fix them. After a quick email to my very-talented-food-guru brother-in-law for some help.... he sent me this yummy recipe:

Dry rub:

2 tablespoons of each of the following ingredients: salt, sugar, brown sugar, ground cumin, chili powder, ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper, 1/4 cup paprika.

Mix all ingredients together, rub over ribs (I just sprinkled it in a Ziploc bag and mushed it over the meat cause I don't like touchin' the stuff - worked pretty well). Let sit for at least 4 hours, best if overnight in zip top bag in fridge. Place on rack in roasting pan, place a bit of water in the bottom of pan (make sure it doesn't get dry) cover with aluminum foil. Place in 250 degree oven for at least 3 hours, until meat shrinks back significantly from bone. Should almost fall off the bone, but not quite. About 15 minutes before you think they are done, remove foil and baste with your favorite BBQ sauce. We love to serve this with a bunch of fresh green beans that have been sauteed in about a stick of butter.

NOTE: This was really tasty, but my kiddies weren't too thrilled - it had a bit of a kick to it, so next time I may cut back on the chili and cayenne pepper.

What's for Dinner?

On of the first things I had to change about my life when I started shopping the "Grocery Smarts Way", was how I planned my family's meals. I used make the meal plan, make the grocery list, and hope for the best when I got to the store. So, now that I am saving a TON of money by using the sale lists, I have had to do things totally backwards.

Guess what though! It is SO much fun to shop first, then look at my pantry and freezer and start scribbling like crazy all the great meals I can put together!!

I thought I would share a few great websites I use to help in this great process... Most of these you can just put in the main ingredient you have and maybe on or two other items and before you know it you will have a wide choice of recipes to choose from.

All Recipes

Pillsbury

Betty Crocker

I will try to start posting some recipes I find for certain items that I buy on sale in a particular week. Hopefully, that will give you some good ideas for your own meal plans.... Happy Dining!! and Saving of course!!